1988 / The refounding of the University of Chile


Location: Las Encinas campus of the University of Chile, Santiago, Chile.

Date: s/f

Event: The 1988 takeover at the University of Chile

Documentation: Carmen Berenguer, Nadia Prado, Carolina Jerez

Other People/Associations: Ulises Nilo / Carlos Berenguer

Institution: Universidad de Chile

Description: Acting within the framework of a student takeover at the University of Chile’s School of Art, which occurred while Chile was still under dictatorship, the Yeguas del Apocalipsis entered the Juan Gómez Millas campus via Las Encinas street, nude and riding a mare (yegua, in the Spanish) together with the poets Carmen Berenguer, Carolina Jerez y Nadia Prado. Pedro Lemebel and Francisco Casas parody and eroticize the virile masculinity of the military officer/conquistador, while also alluding to homosexual masculinity. According to the testimony of Casas, the action cited both Pedro de Valdivia, the founder of the city of Santiago, and the legend of Lady Godiva. Conceived as a demand to let minorities into the university, the action was titled, “The Refounding of the University of Chile.”


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